Chairperson of Indonesian National Human Rights Commission (Komnas HAM), Nur Kholis and Acting Head Bureau of Planning, Internal Monitoring and Cooperation, Sriyana visited the President of the Control Yuan, Chang Po-ya, on January 25, to talk about human rights protection works, and learn more about the lives of the Indonesian migrant workers and spouses living in Taiwan.
President Chang said that the government of the Republic of China (Taiwan) has ratified five international human rights conventions from 2009 onwards. As one of the constitutional bodies, the Control Yuan is the national ombudsman and a voting member of the International Ombudsman Institute (IOI).
The Control Yuan has a mandate to promote good governance and safeguard people’s rights, ensuring that government policies comply with international human rights standards. It has the power to investigate alleged human rights abuse cases and make recommendations to the responsible agency.
The Control Yuan has lived up to its role as a human rights protection institution, given the fact that over fifty percent of the cases handled by the Control Yuan involve human rights violation.
As Chairperson of Komnas HAM, Nur Kholis has concern about the huge number of Indonesian workers in Taiwan, especially their work conditions and human rights.
Nur Kholis thanked the Control Yuan for putting together the trip on such a short notice and arranging for him to meet with related government officials and representatives of non-government organizations, to gain some insight into the lives of the Indonesian people in Taiwan.
He said he will make recommendations to the Indonesian government to address the issues that he found during his visit in Taiwan.
With regard to multi-national businesses investing in Indonesia, Nur Kholis called for the Indonesian government to balance economic development and human rights protection.
He proposes a regional or global platform that will enable knowledge sharing and resolve human rights issues faced by individual countries.
Indonesia has been working closely with other members of the South East Asia NHRI Forum (SEANF), including Thailand, the Philippines and Malaysia, to improve government efficiency in handling issues regarding immigration and business and human rights.
He looks forward to stronger cooperation and exchanges between Komnas HAM and the Control Yuan.
At the invitation of President Chang, Chairperson Nur Kholis and his delegate visited Taiwan from January 24 through 28, calling at government agencies and non-government organizations, including the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of Labor, the Taipei Immigration Detention Center of the Ministry of the Interior, and the Taiwan International Workers Association.
Also present on the day of their visit to the Control Yuan were Deputy Representative of Indonesian Economic and Trade Office to Taipei, Siswadi and Chief of Protocol and Consular, Bayu Wicaksono Putro, Vice President of the Control Yuan and Convener of the Human Rights Protection Committee, Sun Ta-chuan, Secretary General, Fu Meng-rong and Deputy Secretary-General, Hsu Hai-chuan.